A Long Walk Home #SayHerName March

Originally Posted October 31, 2016Share:

Every year during October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and as part of the #SayHerName campaign, A Long Walk Home, Inc. hosts a program and march to lift up Black girls and women who face violence, whether interpersonal or from the state. This year, they honored Jessica Hampton, a young Black woman who was fatally stabbed this past summer by her ex-partner on the Red Line train in Chicago while fellow passengers watched and recorded the attack on their phones, ignoring her plea for help. Additionally, Love & Protect shared about#BreshaMeadows, a 15 year old Black girl in Ohio who is currently incarcerated due to defending herself and her mother and siblings from her severely abusive father. Many of the youth took #SolidaritySelfies with a #FreeBresha poster in support of theFree Bresha Meadows campaign.

The action started in North Lawndale, where A Long Walk Home works with teenage girls, and then participants marched to the Pink Line, which they took downtown to the Red Line, ending at the 47th Street station, which was the station the train Jessica was on was pulling into as she was attacked and killed. The action ended with a vigil, including spoken word, tying purple ribbons onto the chain link fence outside the station overlooking the expressway, a moment of silence, and followed by writing notes to Jessica onto balloons which were released. Jessica’s family were present at both the program in North Lawndale and at the vigil, where they spoke.\